


I don't know you anymore

by JanaRumpandRCClara



Series: Give the 3some the scifi [3]
Category: The Avengers (2012), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Divorce, F/M, Mental Health Issues, Psychological Torture, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-09
Updated: 2013-06-09
Packaged: 2017-12-14 11:38:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/836466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JanaRumpandRCClara/pseuds/JanaRumpandRCClara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You never really know the ones you love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I don't know you anymore

**Author's Note:**

> This one-shot was written by Clara and beta'd by Jana.  
> This one is quite angsty (surprise!) and one of the many background one-shots for Shades.  
> Hope you like it and read the rest of the series (if you haven't already).

Had it been her fault? Sometimes Betty wondered. 

She had been the one to convince him to accept that job, the one who believed it would make him happy. Bruce didn’t even want to take part in the project, felt it was too vague, that there was something they weren’t telling when they offered him the job. And he was right, now Betty knew it.

She had suspected for months. The soldiers that came into the medical wing had injuries that were compatible with torture. They were kids. Steve hadn't even been twenty when he entered the program. He was a sweet boy, a perfect soldier, always trying to endure everything. His friend, Bucky, though hardened was still so kind. Whenever they ended up in there, she was sad to see how they seemed broken. 

Nevertheless, they kept it professional, nothing leaving the rooms of the medical wing. In their little house in the base, everything was different. At dinner there was this feeling of normalcy, almost like they weren’t in a war. Bruce, though, was weirder every day. He'd become cold and indifferent, so distant from the shy boy she had met back in college. She really did love him, but it was so odd seeing him like this. The job was changing him somehow, it couldn’t be that easy after all. They needed to talk. If they did, things might go back to what they had been before. 

That was the reason why she was here, walking through the white halls of the R&D building. Her hands were inside the medical cloak pockets, and she poked her wedding ring, trying to remain calm. She had to fix this, for the sake of their marriage, but most of all, because of the baby inside her. If Bruce continued to change, who would guarantee that by the time the child was born he wouldn't be a completely different man? She had to know if he could once more be the man she knew, had to know before telling him about the kid.

She knocked on the steel door and came through. It was the observation room, where the team of psychiatrists would stay to watch the development of the tests. Bruce stood there, his glasses on and that now ever present cold look on his face. She went further to stay beside him, looking through the glass to the room where the research took place. 

“May I ask what are you doing here, Doctor Banner?” His tone of voice was dry and polite. It gave her chills.

“I need to talk to you, dear.” She didn’t usually feel so nervous around him, but this was different, she felt like anytime soon he would send her away. Instead, Bruce just glanced at her, smirking. 

“We can go in a minute. Just one more test.” 

“So I’ll wait by the cafeteria.”

“No, you can stay. I think it will be best if you do. I’m sure you will find the research delightful.”

He had never asked her to do such thing. Bruce had always made sure she stayed away from that room. “Fine.” She smiled at him, trying to look comfortable. Her husband almost looked amused. 

“So let’s get started.” He said and they both looked at the white, sterile room. 

Steve entered through the back door, followed by another soldier whose name she couldn't remember. He sat on the hospital bed that stood there and removed his shirt, looking towards the glass - he knew they were there, even though he couldn't see them. She saw some bruises that weren’t completely healed yet. He was so young… The other soldier stood next to him, waiting for orders.

“The preparations must be done, we will continue from where we stopped in his last section.”

The younger doctor responsible for the microphone reported coldly then. “Officer Carlson, please tie Officer Rogers to the bed and continue from where we stopped.”

It made Betty even more uncomfortable, the way Steve just accepted it. He was tied up and had the rest of his clothing removed.  
None of the assumptions she had made in her mind prepared her for what followed, though. 

Her husband ordered with cold blood that the man tortured Steve, right there, ordered him to use prods and clamps and electricity to hurt him in one thousand ways she had only ever read about. It made her sick to watch that, but her feet wouldn’t move. Her hand still gripped tight her husband's arm. 

What made everything ten times worst, though, was to hear Steve’s voice begging. “Please, Doctor Banner, I can’t take it anymore.”

And even when the rest of the staff suggested it would be better to end it, Bruce kept going. Until Steve passed out, crying even.  
Betty let go of him and walked out to the hallway, running to the bathroom. She threw up in the toilet, feeling disgusted of herself and of everybody around her. How could they let this happen? Just close their eyes and pretend it was normal. 

She washed her face, her mouth and her hands. If she could wash all of herself she would have. 

This was no longer her Bruce. She couldn’t have a married a man capable of this, there was no way he could have kept this from her all for so many years... And then a realization hit her harsh and cold: she was a part of this too, she was as guilty as Bruce. Betty would fix them after he broke them and send the soldiers right back into the fire. Right back to Bruce. 

She couldn't do this anymore, she couldn't stay here not even one more day, and she couldn't let her baby have a father like this. Betty took a deep breath, to regain her composure. She needed to do this, to walk away and never turn back. The simple idea of having to look at Bruce again now made her want to throw up. How could he submit kids to this? Did he have any idea of what he was really doing? He was a psychiatrist, he of all people knew that the soldiers would never overcome this completely. She didn't know him anymore. 

The dark-haired woman walked out of the bathroom to find the man she was married to now waiting for her by the door. Still smirking, the bastard. 

"Are you all right, my dear?" He asked, his voice soft like velvet. It made her want to punch him in the face and scream. However, she did not do such thing, only stared coldly at him. "We need to talk. Now." 

He just smirked even more. "Let's go to my office." They walked side by side, receiving smiles and greetings from some other member of the project. They believed the two doctors to have the perfect marriage. Betty had as well, until today. 

They entered the office and she sat on one of the chairs. Bruce took some whisky and poured it in a glass. "Do you want some?" She shook her head in response. 

"So what do you want to talk about?"

"Bruce, how long have those tests been going on?"

"Since day one."

"They are kids, Bruce." She said bluntly.

"They are soldiers."

That angered her even more. "Before being soldiers they are kids! Steve hasn't even turned twenty! And Bucky?! I understand now why he hates you so badly." 

"Do you?"

"Yes! You have being torturing them for no good reason!"

He glared glared at her, and she got frightened. Something told Betty this man in front of her could hurt her if they continued fighting. 

"No good reason? No good reason?! They are doing this for our country! I'm doing this for science! To be sure that in the case of them being captured they won't reveal our secrets! To create super soldiers! And what have you been doing?"

Nothing could control her right now, not even fear, and she slapped his face and then got up. "If you believe in what you're saying, you're not the Bruce I knew. And I don't want to be married to a man that thinks torturing people is acceptable." There were tears running down her cheeks, both of anger and of sadness, but she ignored them. 

She pushed him and walked out of the office, promising herself never to step again inside that base, never to let that- Monster near her child. 

 

 

He wanted to speak to her, he wanted to say it was not him doing that, he wanted to say he loved her. But he was trapped, the Other Guy wouldn't let him do anything. He could only watch as Betty left his life. Probably forever.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to point out any mistakes, ask any questions, make suggestions yadda yadda.  
> lots of love :)


End file.
